Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2026; 32(20): 116109
Published online May 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i20.116109
Published online May 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i20.116109
Letter to the Editor: Characteristics of peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations in acute-on-chronic liver failure: A call for further exploration
Jin-Xin Xu, The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, Zhejiang Province, China
Hui-Gang Li, Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang Province, China
Xiao Xu, Hepatobiliary Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, Jiangsu Province, China
Di Lu, General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital (Affiliated People's Hospital), Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang, China
Co-corresponding authors: Xiao Xu and Di Lu.
Author contributions: Xu JX and Li HG drafted the manuscript; Xu X and Lu D reviewed and revised it.
Supported by the Key Research and Development Plan of Zhejiang Province, No. 2024C03051; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 92159202.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Di Lu, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China. zjuludi@zju.edu.cn
Received: November 2, 2025
Revised: November 28, 2025
Accepted: January 26, 2026
Published online: May 28, 2026
Processing time: 199 Days and 1.7 Hours
Revised: November 28, 2025
Accepted: January 26, 2026
Published online: May 28, 2026
Processing time: 199 Days and 1.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: We recently read an enlightening study by Peng et al, published in the recent issue of World Journal of Gastroenterology that established a connection between peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations and acute-on-chronic liver failure in liver transplant recipients. This research urges us to view liver failure from a systemic rather than a single-liver perspective. The study results indicate that natural killer (NK) cell counts are significantly lower in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure compared to those with decompensated cirrhosis. This finding provides valuable insights into the role of NK cells in liver transplant prognosis.